PCLN

Valuentum’s Highest-Rated Economic Castles

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Image Source: Dunrobin Castle; Golspie, Sutherland, John Haslam More information on the Economic Castle™ rating >>  Important Note: The data provided below is current as of the date of this article. Valuentum may have updated the stock and dividend reports of companies after the published date of this article. Members should view the data in this article as a starting point for further research and always access the individual stock page of each desired company on our website for its most recent ratings, metrics, and valuation information. If you have any questions about our services, please contact us at info@valuentum.com. Company Name Symbol Sector Est Div Yield VBI Economic Castle Advanced Micro Devices AMD Information Technology 0.0% 3 Highest Rated Apple AAPL Information Technology 1.6% … Read more

North Korea and the Bomb

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Tensions between the United States and North Korea have heightened, and we may look to August 2017 as the dawn of yet another Cold War. The news has little impact on our thesis, however. Stocks generally remain overvalued, and some of them considerably. Let’s cover a few stocks in the news and reiterate our generally positive stance on defense contractors, two of our favorites recently highlighted in the Nelson Exclusive publication. Learn more about the Nelson Exclusive here. “North Korea best not make any more threats to the United States,” Trump said, arms crossed, from his golf resort in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Tuesday. “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” – CNN, … Read more

Best Ideas, Dividend Growth Newsletter Alerts and More

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Image Shown: The stock price performance of Boeing. Let’s take a look at recent news from newsletter portfolio holdings. We’re also parting with a “trade” we never should have made in the first place, and we’re letting go of one of our favorite restaurants in light of deteriorating technicals. This and more… By Brian Nelson, CFA Aside from predicting the ongoing inflation of the current equity market bubble in the US so far in 2017, we also thought crude oil prices (USO) would continue their recovery. Unfortunately, this hasn’t exactly worked out, and US crude oil prices have now entered a “bear market,” now falling below $43 per barrel. Are we saying that we know where crude oil prices are … Read more

Not Worried About Priceline, Boeing; Yes Worried About Fickle Retail

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Image Source: Mike Mozart Priceline and Boeing have been here before. Fickle retail continues to succumb to the Amazon effect. By Brian Nelson, CFA The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DIA) closed just shy of the 21,000 mark on May 11, while the S&P 500 (SPY) ended the session at ~2,395. We continue to ride the wave in the equity markets higher, even as we exercise caution almost across the board. First-quarter earnings season has actually been quite good, however, with the “blended earnings growth rate for S&P 500 companies north of 10% (it was 13.5% with more than 80% of S&P 500 companies reporting). FactSet noted in its May 5 report that this pace of growth is the highest since … Read more

Valuentum’s 3 Breakthroughs in the Field of Finance and More

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Valuentum’s President Brian Nelson pauses for a picture before speaking at the CFA Society of Houston in March 2017. By Valuentum Editorial Staff Let’s cover Valuentum’s 3 major breakthroughs in the field of finance. The first one is big and may challenge you to rethink everything you think you know about investing. 1. On a logical framework, Valuentum has debunked John C. Bogle’s landmark syllogism that has paved the way for the concept of index investing. Index investing has been built on a logical shortcoming, whether supported by evidence or not. We think it is important that the investment community know of this. Read (pdf): The “Luck” and “Randomness” of Index Funds (2018), Brian Nelson, CFA See video documentation: /FALLACY_of_Index_Funds To … Read more

VBI Case Study — Priceline’s 3Q Earnings Insight

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Let’s take a look at Best Idea Newsletter holding Priceline’s (PCLN) third quarter 2016 report, released November 7. Image Source: Priceline What management said: “The Priceline Group brands executed well during our peak summer travel season,” said Jeffery H. Boyd, Chairman and Interim Chief Executive Officer of The Priceline Group. “Globally, our accommodation business booked 150 million room nights in the 3rd quarter, up 29% over the same period last year. The acceleration in room night growth demonstrates the favorable market in which we operate as well as the value of our diverse global platform.” Shares are breaking out… The scoop: Priceline executed fantastically in its peak summer travel season, turning in 25% gross travel bookings growth in the third quarter of … Read more

The Quiet Analyst Speaks

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Image Description and Source: Mailslot for Cantor Fitzgerald, on the top floors of the WTC. The mailslot was located in a post office near the WTC site. The mailslots are with the Smithsonian Institution. Travis Wise. It’s 9pm Sunday, September 11, 2016. The day is a somber one. The 15th year passing of the tragic events of 9/11 were on everyone’s minds, and I can’t help but think specifically of Cantor Fitzgerald. The financial services company’s headquarters were on the 101st-105th floors of One World Trade Center, just a few floors above the impact zone of one of the hijacked airplanes. The firm lost 658 employees, over two thirds of its workforce, more than “any of the other World Trade … Read more

Priceline Higher After Outperforming Conservative Guidance

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By Kris Rosemann Shares of Best Idea Newsletter portfolio holding Priceline (PCLN) experienced a healthy bounce following its 2016 second quarter report after the close August 4 as results came in above its guidance for the period. We think the firm is beginning to gain a reputation for setting conservative guidance only to report much stronger results, something we have seen repeatedly from it in recent quarters “Priceline Shares Under Pressure… Again.” Gross travel bookings growth came in at 19% on a year-over-year basis as reported, which is above the 11%-18% guidance range management issued for the period and an acceleration from the second quarter of 2015 reported growth rate of 11% (gross travel bookings growth decelerated in constant currency, … Read more

Keep Calm and Carry On?

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Image Source: War History Online, June 22 Brexit may or may not be a big problem. Time will tell. But what matters and eventually becomes its own catalyst, however, is valuation. The forward price-to-earnings multiple on S&P 500 companies (SPY) is currently ~16.5 times, above its 5-year (14.6) and 10-year averages (14.3). This is the real story. Assuming a reversion to the 10-year average multiple, for example, the S&P 500 can be considered “fairly valued” at $1,811, a drop of another 10% from ~2,000 levels. You don’t need us to tell you that the markets have practically gone straight up the past seven years from the March 2009 panic bottom through today, with the S&P 500 effectively tripling since that … Read more

Brexit: Secession Bells Are Ringing!

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First Baptist Church in Columbia, S.C., where the first secession convention in the United States opened on Dec. 17, 1860. Source: Library of Congress, Washington, DC. Photo. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web. 24 Jun. 2016. Global markets are plunging, and the implosion may still be in the early innings. Market valuations remain stretched among stagnant global economic growth, and “Brexit” may be the catalyst for a correction. In the paraphrased words of the well-known The Day of the Jackal author, Frederick Forsyth: the peasants have spoken. On June 23, the UK (EWU) held a referendum, in which anyone of voting age could take part, to decide whether the country should leave the European Union. The turnout was incredible at nearly 72%, and … Read more